It's Now a Murder Case

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, March 29, 2001

AFTER HEARING testimony for more than two weeks, a grand jury has returned criminal indictments against San Francisco attorneys Robert Noel, 59, and Marjorie Knoller, 45, owners of the Presa Canario dogs that fatally mauled Diane Whipple on Jan. 26.

Noel and Knoller have been charged with involuntary manslaughter and failing to control a vicious animal that causes death. In addition, the panel charged Knoller with second-degree murder. This is a charge far harder to prove because it requires evidence of malice or a reckless disregard for human life.

To put it mildly, Knoller and Noel are hardly the most popular couple in San Francisco these days. After the tragic death of Whipple, they acted more like defense attorneys than neighbors filled with remorse. Had they apologized and expressed their sorrow and grief, they might have gained some public sympathy. Instead, they wrote a rambling brief on behalf of themselves, a legal missive that blamed Whipple for wearing perfume and leaving her apartment while under attack.

Bizarre is the word most frequently used to describe this couple, including their legal careers, their adoption of a 39-year-old state prisoner who has nude photos of his "mother," the vicious dogs they helped raise, and their high-speed exit from San Francisco to Tehama County.

District Attorney Terence Hallinan needs a victory in this case to prop up his sagging political career. Hallinan has set the bar high. It won't be easy to get a guilty verdict for second-degree murder.

Few people want Knoller and Noel to walk away with a slap on the wrist for an incident that needlessly ended an energetic and popular woman's life. Still,

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we must never forget that they are entitled to the presumption of innocence.

And so the court phase of this tale begins in earnest. Stay tuned. This is one story -- much like the energy crisis -- that won't go away any time soon.

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